


Doppler Frequency

by keizeria



Series: Frequency verse [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M, Orchestra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 23:25:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7290322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keizeria/pseuds/keizeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Yixing thought high school was tough, it was nothing compared to university. Majoring in music, especially in songwriting, as hipster as it may sound, was mostly a battle against torrents of depression. If you really asked Yixing, he definitely got a lot to say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doppler Frequency

 

 

 

If Yixing thought high school was tough, it was nothing compared to university. Majoring in music, especially in songwriting, as hipster as it may sound, was mostly a battle against depression from the struggle to find the ever elusive inspiration to make a composition coherent enough to be called a song with the occasional exhilaration of finally being able to compose something really  _good_. Yixing had always considered himself a very laid back and positive person; however university had flipped his personality and turned him into a stressed, nervous wreck.

  
  
As if the constant looming deadlines and almost permanent stress weren't enough to drive a sane man up the wall, this year their university had joined hands with twenty other universities across Asia to organize a project; the Asian Festival of the Creative and Performing Arts-slash-charity event which would be held in Beijing to facilitate, promote and foster a vibrant arts community or whatever it said on the event's website the last time he checked.  
  
  
Yixing's name had been attached to the project since it had been announced, much to his chagrin, as he had written the opening number for the university sport festival which went viral last year. He didn't want to pressure himself as he had so much on his plate already, but, of course, that was exactly what he did. If he failed to deliver, he would fling himself out of his dorm's window, or something equally as dramatic. Yifan, being a responsible roommate that he was, had been keeping a close eye on him after he had learned of the project’s announcement,  _'Just in case the window wasn't locked,'_ Yifan had said with a shrug.

  
  
Yixing's university got paired up with a university from Korea by the Asian Art Committee's random pick. The concept was to do the concert where they showed unanimity through music and performance arts, so they had paired each university up with the university from different country just to be the pain in the ass. Yixing didn't know which was harder, trying to compose for a show or doing it with someone he couldn't communicate with.

  
  
There were two kids from Korea National University of Arts, or K-ARTS, who were designated as the focal point but they were also short on ideas of what to do for the project just as Yixing was, or that’s what he could make out from their first Skype brain storming session which had consisted of lots of hand movements and not enough substantial material to kick start the project. Yixing had to beg a teacher from the Korean class to provide him with someone from their department to help with the translating because Google translate just wasn't cutting it.

  
  
Chanyeol, Yixing was still unsure on how to pronounce the  _Yeol_  part of his name so he just called him  _Chan_ , was an enthusiastic puppy from the performance department. His personal profile was longer than any of Yixing's papers on contemporary arrangement in jazz, and Yixing had a  _lot_  to say about jazz. Chanyeol was a skilled violinist, cellist and double bassist, and was currently a concertmaster on his university's ensemble one orchestra. His profile went on for _miles_.

  
  
Kyungsoo, another composition major, was as easily intimidated as he was tiny; very. He had joined in on his and Chanyeol's second Skype session in place of a now former focal point, Junmyun, or just  _Jun_  for Yixing, who was now off to do something Yixing wasn't sure about, though they were majoring in the same subject so it didn't make much of a difference to their group. Though, during their Skype call, Yixing wasn't sure if there was a connection problem with his Skype or Kyungsoo really was that still; he was sure the boy didn't even blink once in the span of three minutes that Yixing tried desperately to fix the nonexistent problem.

  
  
_'Just called me Soo,'_  Kyungsoo said, in perfect  _English_ , when he found Yixing struggling to pronounce his name. Yixing only caught the word  _me_  and  _soo_ , and what the hell the boy could speak English but he couldn't speak  _Mandarin_ , but he figured that was what the smaller male wanted to go by, so he just said,  _'um, Soo, er, yeah...,'_  back and only sighed in relief when the assigned Korean student from the liberal arts department burst through the door, apologizing profusely for being late.

  
  
Kyungsoo wanted to create a grand symphony piece with the accompaniment from traditional Chinese instruments, the whole Chung Myung Whun met Hu Bing Xu shenanigan that sounded like more of a headache than it was worth, whereas Yixing wanted to call out on his own ambitions, but he also found himself wanting to give Kyungsoo’s idea a try. It wasn't every day that one got a whole bunch of classically trained geniuses wanting to do collaboration, right? Plus, it would look really good on his résumé.

  
  
"우리 앙상블 멤버 부족하면 다른 앙상블 멤버와 함께 하면 돼요  _(We can totally recruit people from ensemble two for reinforcement if the members from our ensemble isn't enough)_ ," Chanyeol said excitedly, his hands bumping into the top of Kyungsoo's head and something off the screen as he gestured wildly with his hands. Yixing looked helplessly at the translator until she finished translating the whole sentence.

  
  
"How many ensembles are there in your major?" Yixing asked while Kyungsoo grabbed at Chanyeol's hand to stop his motions, and proceeded to sit on it.

  
  
"세 우리 전공 커서  _(Three. We're big)_ ," Chanyeol replied, a little distracted since the weight Kyungsoo settled on his hand seemed to be shifted from hovering slightly above to a full grind. Kyungsoo widened his eyes as a warning; the white of his eyes seemed to get even brighter when they had a threatening force behind them. Yixing saw Kyungsoo tighten his hold on Chanyeol's wrist when the latter still tried to free his hand to continue on with his wild gesture, and couldn't help wincing inwardly at the treatment. Chanyeol scrunched up his nose in resignation, before stopping his fidgeting, movement turning suddenly still, back straight like a violin bow.

  
  
Kyungsoo let out a sign, letting go of Chanyeol's hand, before looking back at Yixing and saying, "우리는 형의 중국의 오케스트라 애들과 함께 할 거예요  _(we're going to have to collab with the Chinese orchestra kids from your department as well)._ "

  
  
Said kids, or rather, kid, turned out to be a Huang Zitao from the Chinese music major department. Yixing knew him vaguely via Yifan as the boy whom Yifan played basketball with, but since Yixing was also at his rope's end trying to find someone who could help with the Chinese aspect of the symphony, he had no other choice but to  ~~rope~~ ask Zitao into helping him.

  
  
"We could probably rally up about ten or so people from my major to help with the project," Zitao contemplated for a moment before carefully mounting down the guzheng from his back and leaning it against the wall, the metals in his ears gleaming in the sunlight; Zitao looked more like a punk rock version of Chang Jing instead of someone from a traditional arts department.  
  
  
"But gege," Zitao went on, "why am I one of the focus points? I'm only first year!" He was getting more and more restless as the sentence progressed, wringing his hands, eyes wide and pleading, clearly worried about any impending stress. Being responsible for the biggest event that would go permanently on your school track record, the event that attracted dozens of performance art scouts and music company representatives, was rather intimidating for a first year, Yixing had to admit, since this could easily make or break your career. But all Yixing could do was to pat Zitao on his back with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, before sending him on his way; this was all Yifan's fault anyway for introducing him to Zitao.

  
  
Their small group made a reasonable amount of progress considering the need to adopt the mime act most of the time. Chanyeol's exceptional knowledge on various string instruments proved to be very useful for composing, and Kyungsoo's remarkable ability to crack open, shape up and reassemble just about any form of movement* needed to complete a symphony―be it a well-thought out Allegro, haunting Andante and Adagio, or even some mad Scherzo or lovely Minuet, Kyungsoo could do it all―was the greatest help to Yixing who always had trouble following the sonata principle.

  
  
It was the third week when Kyungsoo broached the subject; "형 피아노 치죠?  _(you will play the piano, right?)_ ," and Yixing blanched. "여기 썼는데 형 피아노 칠 줄 알아요  _(It says here that you can play it)._ " Kyungsoo brought a piece of paper near the built-in camera on his computer; it was Yixing's profile. "난 같은 시간 피아노를 치고 지휘할 수 없어.. 형은 우리 미지막 희망예요  _(I can't play and conduct at the same time, so you're our last hope, hyung)._ "

  
  
"I will play...the piano?" Yixing phrased it as a question, but once it had been translated, Kyungsoo smiled and said, "굿 _(good)_ ," with a strong nod of his head. Yixing moaned inwardly; this volunteer translator wasn't good with her job at all. Why hadn't she picked up on his connotation?

  
  
"이틀후에 형 만날 거니까 연습 홀 미리 예약하는거 잊지마 알았지?  _(We'll see you in two days so don't forget to book the practice hall, kay?)_ " Chanyeol cheerfully chimed in before Kyungsoo disconnected their Skype and left Yixing with the dark screen. Yixing facepalmed himself so hard he thought he might leave a permanent nose print on his hand. He didn't want to play the piano. He hadn't touched it since he left home three years ago and was probably rusty as hell. He sighed, this had not been part of the plan at all.

  
  
"So basically you're in deep shit," Yifan commented offhandedly while walking past the door of Yixing's room on his journey to visit the toilet.

  
  
"Yeah, I know," Yixing groaned. "I’m so dead. When the Korean kids arrive, Soo is going to murder me." he yelled after the retreating back of his roommate who just waved him off with the use of three fingers.

  
  
"Don't be dramatic," Yifan yelled back. "That Kyungsoo kid seems harmless as a baby penguin. He's probably the tiniest conductor we'll ever have." Yifan was a theater kid; he shouldn't be lecturing people on not being dramatic it was his major for god’s sake, and besides, what did Yifan even know? Kyungsoo was definitely going to kill him, in cold blood and probably in front of the whole major; at least that was what Yixing thought the kid's eyes secretly conveyed throughout their various conversations.

  
  
"And we need a new translator," Yixing mumbled into the crook of his forearm because he was definitely going to fire the one he had at the moment.  
  
  
They were going to need a lot more translators once the whole of ensemble one and the handful of people they were borrowing from ensemble two arrived. Chanyeol gave him the approximate number of the participants from his end and it amounted to around sixty and Yixing had finally gotten an okay from the head of the Chinese music department last week to use half of their ensemble for the performance, whereas the other half would be helping out with the accompanying music for the dance major's performance so they couldn't pitch in musically, but Yixing was contented enough. This way the whole team would build up to almost ninety; big enough for the symphony Kyungsoo wanted.

  
  
Zitao was also a big help, but just like he had said; he was a first year and nobody wanted to listen to a first year who wore panda t-shirts to the rehearsal; no one took him seriously. Yixing was going to have to take the reins; he was going to captain this and make this work, even if he had to get his head ripped off for not being able to play the piano with the good enough grace the other male had hoped for. Yixing knew it was going to be hard following Kyungsoo's composition, but what he was actually concerned about was how to go about it without having to experience the  _flashback_  every time his fingertips touched the piano keys. Even after all this time, his painful memories of high school still hung over him. With another helpless groan, Yixing buried his face deeper into the crook of his arms. He was so fucking screwed.  
  
  
The Korean kids arrived in three buses along with their equipment. Yixing spotted Chanyeol first from the throng of people moving around and unloading their stuff, so he took his left earbud out and made his way through the crowd.

  
  
Yixing was barely used to Chanyeol's loudness when the three of them Skyped but somehow he was even louder in real life. The guy towered over everyone by a head, and even though Yixing was pretty used of being shadowed by Yifan, Chanyeol seemed to take a much bigger space due to the  _loudness_  of his personality. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, was just as tiny as Yixing had expected, but his wide eerie eyes were even scarier than Yixing had prepared himself for.

  
  
"우리 중국 친구한테 무섭게 하지마  _(Don't scare off our Chinese friend),_ " one of the Korean members said, eyes sparkling with something akin to mischief, a finger poking at the shorter male's cheek. Kyungsoo's blank face transformed itself into a grimace all of a sudden. He swatted annoyingly at the other male's hand, mumbling something like, "난 아무것도 하지 이렇게 이니까 그런 말을 하지마 백현아  _(I didn't do anything. Stop bothering me, Baekhyun-ah)_ ," before storming off to sulk in the corner.

  
  
Around him, people were chatting in the language he couldn't decipher. Someone bumped into something and the whole row of music stands tumbled down like they were dominoes. Zitao got bombarded by the hoard of people from his major, demanding to be placed on the left side, not on the right side. Chanyeol was running around in panic, trying to count the number of his people for the nth time because he thought he was one person short, when in reality, said person was hiding in the midst of the Chinese members, laughing at the whole commotion.

  
  
Yixing blinked slowly as the helplessness started to overwhelm him. The music blasting from his right ear served as unnecessary background music to all the mess he had no clue how to organize. Yixing had no idea on how to proceed; he didn't even know how to greet his project partners properly let alone lead the rehearsal. He needed someone from the Korean major now. He needed his translator here to help him getting through the day or otherwise he was going to end up ripping his hair out right at this moment.

  
  
Someone tapped him on the back, just a hand patting once on the back of his shoulder, and when Yixing turned around, he felt like his heart had stop beating for a beat or two.

  
  
The person smiled, eyes bright and cheery. He took the earbud from Yixing's hand and put it in his own ear; the iPod shuffled to  _依然愛你_  and Yixing chocked on his breath, suddenly overcame with emotions.

  
  
The person laughed as he turned to address the crowd, "안녕 난 루한이라고 해요 이 프로젝트 통역사이에요  _(hi, my name is Lu Han. I'll be your translator throughout this project)_ ," and the newly constructed world Yixing had painstakingly crafted to accommodate the missing part of himself started to shift beyond his control and realign itself.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> And hence this has now turned into Nodame Cantabile OTL. _依然愛你_ or 'Still in love with you' is Wang Leehom's song. You can listen to it [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPLJ6ZFnS0s). It's actually kind of a bit cliché, but I like the song so....don't judge me, please? Also, there will be more from this verse *sobs*


End file.
